act of sitting can supersize you. and made in america. meet some of the people back in work because of you. good evening. you all know, neither rain, nor sleet or snow will stop the mail, even the most determined letter carrier cannot overcome bankruptcy. that's right, it's forcing the post office to make massive layoffs. 35,000 and that's by march 2012. services will be restricted in ways sure to be felt by all of us. especially when you consider this, each day americans send 563 million letters and packages. almost two pieces of mail every

day for every one of us. tonight we tackle the questions can the post office be saved, should it and what does the shake-up mean for america's economy and you? sharyn alfonsi starts us off from one of the biggest post offices near penn station in manhattan. good evening, sharyn. >> reporter: good evening, make no mistake, big cuts that awill affect every home even at the main office in new york city, it will take longer for every letter to go door to door. they've braved rain, sleet and snow, but the us postal service is now trying to weather its darkest days. facing a $14 billion deficit next year. they announced sweeping cuts today to avoid bankruptcy. this spring, they'll shutter more than half of the country's mail processing centers. eliminating some 35,000 jobs and will con sal date the distance they have to travel.

it could take two to three days. >> i send my timecards in, that's how i get paid, now my checks will be delayed. >> next. >> reporter: and the delay could be even worse for businesses that rely on speedy delivery. experts say small businesses will be hurt as merchandise and payments spend more time in transit. a possible nine-day delivery time could put an end to the weekly magazines. more changes could be ahead. they want to cut delivery from six days a week to five, cut pensions and close another 3,700 post offices across the country. >> we take no tax money so we live on the revenues that we bring. and as the revenues go down like any other business, you got to be responsible to make change. >> reporter: but any change would need congressional approval first. and in an election year, it's unlikely congress would act on anything seen as promoting layoffs. so what would it take to avoid layoffs and keep service intact? we did the math.

it turns out you could erase the projected $14 billion deficit by raising the cost of a stamp just 18 cents to 63 cents. compare that to $8 it would cost to send a letter in across country via fedex or the $19 to send the same letter today by u.p.s. expect another round of changes as early as summer. george? >> sharyn, thanks very much. now to politics. your voice, your vote and the former house speaker full of steam. newt gingrich the clear front runger in iowa has gone from fifth to first since october and today he forged an unconventional alliance with the man who would be kingmaker become their donald trump. jake tapper has the story. >> reporter: riding a wave of poll numbers and publicity newt gosh visited donald trump in manhattan today where he continued to talk about changing

the culture of poverty by putting poor children to work. >> i suggested to donald trump that he adopt a program of apprentices, and take one of the poorest schools in new york city and create ten apprenticeships that would be paid for part-time work and he liked the idea a lot and understood exactly what i was getting at ♪ money money money >> reporter: some republicans disparage the role in the party currently played by the reality television star and real estate mogul. they say he further fosters a circus-like atmosphere. but not newt. >> you know, donald trump is a great showman. he is also a great business man. i think that we have to be open to new ways of doing things and new ways of approaching things. >> reporter: there are other candidates with loyal supporters like congressman ron paul. but in some ways, the republican race seems to be coalescing around two distinct candidates. >> very excited -- >> reporter: former governor mitt romney is going after

gingrich for being a career politician, but gingrich today wasn't having it, reminding voters of romney's forays into politics. >> i don't know that you ought to count running for the senate in 1994, running for governor, then running for president for six years. >> reporter: romney for his part made sure that he is watching gingrich and is clear to make distinctions. he doesn't need to attack him full throatedly. others are doing so. >> i'm not inclined to be a supporter of newt gingrich's after served under him for four years and experienced personally his leader shship >> reporter: the obama campaign has focused its fire on romney that is, george, until today when they called newt gingrich the godfather of gridlock, a sign that they're taking his candidacy seriously. >> also gridlock on the payroll tax cut extension. everyone's tax is set to go up

january 1st. the president came to the briefing room. i goat the sense they're getting worried it won't pass, jake. >> reporter: they are, although it's difficult to discern how much of this is showmanship. they feel they have a real winner of an issue here with republicans on the defensive, on their heels for the first time in a long time. that said, there is no deal as of right now which means as of january 1st, the taxes on 160 million americans would go up 2%. george? >> okay, jake, thanks. coming up saltalamacchia the next big republican debate. diane sawyer and i will moderate from des moines, iowa and airs at 9:00 eastern, 6:00 pacific. iran, one of our drones, a top secret american weapon that's made such a difference in the war on terror is now in the hands of our rad ver saris. america's top intelligence officers are trying to figure out out it happened. abc's martha raddatz is tracking the story.

>> reporter: the iranians say they have their hands on an rq-170, a secret stealth aircraft that carries the most advanced sensors, cameras and listening devices for spying from the air. the u.s. will say only that a drone malfunctioned over afghanistan late last week. in case of malfunction, it's designed to circle until it picks up a signal again or until it runs out of gas, which means it could have glided into iran largely intact. the drone is designed to automatically erase its sensitive data, but even if it did, the drone's skin, which keeps it invisible from radar, could be an intelligence bonanza. >> if they are trying to figure out how to detect american stealthy systems in the future, well, now they've got something that allows them to do that. >> reporter: the iranians have not shown pictures of the drone they say they have but that may be because they don't want to reveal how much or how little was left of the aircraft.

george? >> okay, martha, thanks. and the ratings giants standard & poor's lobbed something of a missile warning europe's two biggest economies could be stripped of their aaa credit rating. in all s&p put 15 european nations on negative credit watch meaninthere is a 50% chance they'll be downgraded. many of those countries are trying to prevent it by acting on big budget cuts. we were struck by this image out of italy. this welfare minister reduced to tears as thee unveils a new and brutal austerity package. a win for tiger woods. it's been a tough two years since his scandal and divorce. week after week the world's most famous athlete looked like this on the course. sunday, all smiles and that fist pump is back so we asked josh elliott how he is starting to get his groove back.

>> a "w" for tiger woods for the first time in more than two years. >> reporter: a moment exactly 749 days since we've seen it last. >> today was a picture perfect day. >> reporter: his tale is well known. unprecedented success first as a golfer and then as a sort of uber pitchman and the global iconography that such star power rocked so why was sunday's win in a tournament that didn't count against a field of just 17 other players so meaningful. because it shows how far he fell and what he is doing and still must do on the road back to himself. >> that fist pump was tiger saying, i'm back, maybe, that his game at least for these couple of days was much more like the tiger woods of old. >> reporter: it wasn't just the crucible that began with the infamous suv crash on thanksgiving 2009, the sex scandal that would cost him his marriage to elin and $22 million in sponsorship losses, woods'

body was falling apart. with a legendarily violent swing, a lower back injury, a strongic stress fracture in his tibia, a left knee that required four surgeries. as it grew worse so too did his frustration. and as his game crumbled so did his inner circle. he fired his coach hank haney in may 2009 and split from longtime friend and caddie steve williams this past july and suddenly it seemed wonder if he lost the ability to do the one thing that made it all possible. sunday's win provides no definitive answer but if only for one day clad in his signature red of so many championship sundays past tiger woods seemed a picture of what he once was rather than who he had since become. >> george, myhome was a focus group of three but for the first time we were toggling between an nfl game in progress and golf,

first time in say two years. good news for tiger. maybe great news for the game. >> we'll see how he does in the majors. josh, thanks very much. still ahead, abc news has exclusive new details about the eight alleged victims of penn state football coach jerry sandusky. what they've indicted to do together. and meet the americans who have jobs tonight because of you and your commitment to buying made in america. i've got nothing against these do-it-yourself steam cleaners.

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the child sex scandal at penn state university is back in the headlines tonight after those bombshell comments from former coach jerry sandusky to "the new york times." it's his second major interview and abc news now has exclusive reporting that his public comments are enraging his accusers and raising questions about his defense strategy. abc's jim avila is on the case. >> reporter: jerry sandusky may soon face his accusers. prosecutors plan on calling all eight alleged victims to testify at next week's preliminary hearing. abc news has learned from sources close to the case, that sandusky's second high-profile interview has so incensed his accusers, they are anxious to tell their stories. >> first he serially abused his client then he has to hear sandusky deny he did those things. >> reporter: sandusky told "the new york times" over the weekend he is being turned into a monster by prosecutors who are

mistaking fatherly affection for sexual abuse. >> i didn't do those things. >> reporter: but when given yet another chance to answer the simple question of whether he is sexually attracted to children, the former coach needed off-camera coaching. >> if i say, no, i'm not attracted to boys, that's not the truth because i'm attracted to young people, boys, girls -- >> but not sexually. >> right, i enjoy -- that's what i'm trying to clarify, i enjoy spending time with young people. >> reporter: after two major on-camera fumbles, many wonder why the former football coach is talking at all. >> i think people will get used to the fact that that's just the way jerry responds to questioning, and that's the way he gives answers. >> reporter: a legitimate, but risky strategy say critics, >> he kept looking away. he wouldn't make eye contact. he was fidgeting. his legs, his hands were moving

all about, and those are potential signs of deception that investigators look for. >> reporter: a strategy sandusky is having trouble pulling off. jim avila, abc news, new york. >> abc's legal analyst dan abrams is here. dan, you saw sandusky's lawyer try to defend the strategy. i don't get it. >> look, i hold the lawyer responsible to some degree. it's the lawyer who should be taking him through all the questions and then doing a cost benefit analysis and saying is this worth it when he's going to give nuanced answers to the definition of attraction and provide fodder for prosecutors to use later as well as upset the victims you've got to say how could it have been worth it? >> this can't help even if it keeps him off the stand. >> i don't think it would. i don't think he would take the stand. this sort of interview because it wasn't particularly helpful is not going to prevent him from taking the stand. i don't find those kind of interviews in an effort to poison the jury pool tend to work at all. >> okay, dan abrams, thanks very

much. still ahead, the new research tonight, what sitting at work all day can really do to your body. nyquil (stuffy): hey, tylenol. you know we're kinda like twins.

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in healthy living the science of sitting. we all know about the benefits of exercise and an active lifestyle but now researchers have found that even all that exercise might not be good enough if you don't change the way you work. abc's linsey davis has the bottom line. >> reporter: glued to your computer and stuck to your chair all day? turns out all that sitting down

may have a downside for your back side. no matter how little you eat or how much you exercise, too much sitting by itself may broaden your bottom. the researchers found that when we sit down, the amount of force we put on our body tissue causes the very cells that are the precursers to fat cells to produce even more fat, up to 50% more. >> hi, everyone. >> reporter: doctor jim levine of the mayo clinic found obese people sit an average 2 1/2 hours more each day than thinner people. so he favors offices that look more like this where the desks are attached to treadmills. >> an extra 140 calories an hour for you. >> reporter: but most of us still work in offices that look much like our newsroom and in our own not so scientific experiment. just by sitting alone you could potentially create up to 50% more fat cells. >> just by sitting alone? well, then i got to get up.

>> let me get up right now. >> reporter: the bottom line, take some pressure off your own bottom line and stand up. linsey davis, abc news, new york. >> linsey even got michelle to stand up. still ahead the jobs coming back, the people finding work because so many of you are accepting the "made in america" challenge. have given way to sleeping. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta can help you get there, like it has for so many people before. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions, such as tongue or throat swelling, occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache,

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finally the power of those three words "made in america." we reported here about how so many more americans could give back to work if each of us spent a little more on products made here at home and tonight we're happy to report that many of you are responding accepting the challenge and jobs are coming back. here's abc anchor david muir. ♪ it's the most >> reporter: the most wonderful time of year for a challenge but the thousands more of you wrote in and sent in the same message. >> all: we're in. >> reporter: the wall family dad hunting for a shirt finding one made in america at brooks brother. >> the wall family is in curt knox the kocar family. >> which store do you think we'll find more american made good, the electronic store or the sporting goods store. >> sporting goods store. >> reporter: determined to check

the labels. >> made in the usa? >> yes. >> reporter: what about golf balls for dad? they searched every box on the shelf. it's a good thing they did. >> china makes golf ball, of course. how about these? ah, made in the usa. >> reporter: and tervis tumblers. holding a bag of them hearing diane bought them, $64 worth. after the broadcast on their website -- >> we had the largest any time history. >> reporter: those famous bundt pans in minneapolis. in fact buying them at a record pace. since our first made in america trip in april every one of these workers a new hire. 42 of them among them ann quaty, a mother of two. >> i was out of work for a year and a half. >> reporter: now on the job in time for christmas and tonight a thank you to the viewers from all 42 of those new hires.

and those boomers and their american bathing suits. they shop for their one thing made in america and got ale message from the swimsuit maker. >> we hired three workers since we were featured in july. >> reporter: who are these? >> thank you, "world news." >> reporter: all because viewers are answering this question -- >> what would you like me to bring you for christmas. >> reporter: with something made in america. michele harold said i am so in this christmas making it my new year's resolution and gary mcdermott said "i have jumped on the bandwagon" now circling the country. hopefully this year full of jobs too. >> all: thank you. >> the viewers thanking "world news." we thank all of you at home. take a look at this. the number of ideas right here on this table that have come in, thousands of them, $407,000 pledged to american goods for christmas, of course, the ideas

coming in in realtime so keep them coming. find all of us here on facebook and abcnews.com with all of the ideas that have come in. >> that is a huge stack, david. >> and we'll recycle it. >> thanks very much. for diane and all of us at abc news, thanks for watching. check us out any time on abcnews.com and before we go another image of christmas in america. we're choosing a different city each night. here's st. louis cathedral in new orleans, thanks to our affiliate, wgno. have a good night. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices...

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but too many plants don't use it. we can't wait. epa must update power plant standards ro protect our kids. [ baby coughing ] whee.. of... rtune! ladies and gentlemen-- pat sajak and vanna white! hi, jim. thanks, everybody. thank you so much. appreciate that. ththank you, thank you. time tgo. okay. you'll go that way. i'll go this way. hiwe have families tonight. how are you doing? good, w are you? eveverybody there--oh,e they're reaching franticallyy for those things en as we speak. our first "t"toss up." "phrase" is the category. vanna's in place, so it looks like we're ready.